Middle East conflict feels a surge in oil prices.

Hello, and you're listening to the Marketplace Morning Report live from the BBC World Service

on Leana Burn.

Very good morning to you.

Israel is to continue to bomb Gaza in retaliation for the massive coordinated assault by Hamas

militants, which began on Saturday, commodity markets reacted immediately.

Oil prices jumped.

And while Israel and the Palestinian territories aren't major oil producers, the Middle East

is a major hub responsible for almost a third of global supply.

So when this trouble or uncertainty in that region, it can potentially disrupt the flow

of oil.

The BBC's will bane can explain it for us.

Hello, well.

Morning, Leana.

So why would the price of oil be affected by what's going on between Israel and Hamas?

Well, I think there's a couple of things you've got to think about.

First of all, third of the world's oil comes out of the Middle East region now.

Yes, of course, Israel is not a major producer of it itself, but it's this fear that the

conflict could spread beyond the borders, both physically and also in terms of sort of

sanctions and geopolitical tensions.

So for example, already we've seen rocket fire being exchanged between Israel and Lebanon.

Israel has been pointing the finger at Iran, perhaps for helping support Hamas in this

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